1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to calendars and, more specifically, to a calendar that corresponds a Jewish calendar to a Gregorian calendar.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally speaking, the calendar of the Western civilization is a Gregorian calendar which is solar-based, having approximately 365.25 calendar days each year. It begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st, with each Gregorian calendar day stretching from midnight to midnight.
The Jewish calendar was inaugurated over three-thousand years ago upon G-d's commandment to the Jews in Egypt to proclaim the holiness of the month of Nissan. Since that first commandment and first collective act of Jewish nationhood, the lunar-based calendar, with Rabbinically calculated seasonal adjustments, has guided the Jews throughout history. During the times of the First and Second Temples, the Sanhedrin (i.e., The Great Assembly), certified witnesses of the New Moon, sanctified the New Month (i.e., Rosh Chodesh), and announced it through a system of hilltop fires and messengers. This procedure remained in force until the fourth century C.E., when Hillel II fixed all the future Jewish months and years.
This order of the Hebrew Monthly continues to be universally accepted in Israel and in the Diaspora.
In addition to the Jewish calendar being lunar-based, with each month beginning on the appearance of a new moon, the Jewish day stretches from sunset to sunset. Thus, a strictly Jewish calendar begins at sunset on the first day of the month of Tishrei, i.e., the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
Yet typically, prior art contemporary Jewish calendars are formatted according to the secular/solar year, thus prior art contemporary Jewish calendars begin on the secular date of September 1 instead of on the Jewish day of Tishrei 1. This results in the calendar displaying complete secular months instead of complete Jewish months.
Furthermore, the visual indicia used to indicate days in prior art Jewish calendars represents the secular day stretching from midnight to midnight, as opposed to the Jewish day stretching from sunset to sunset.
What is needed and has not heretofore been developed is a calendar that visually integrates the Gregorian solar-based calendar, including months and daily structure, within a Jewish lunar-based calendar with its unique month and day structure. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lunar calendar and Gregorian solar-based calendar that is easier to use than the prior art calendars.